Combination lock



Feb. 16 1926. 1,573,170

- c. c. KNOTTINGHAM ET AL I COMBINATION LOCK Filed Nov. 26, 1925 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Feb. 16 1926.

C. C. KNOTTINGHAM ET AL COMBINATION LOCK 5 Sheets-Sheet Filed Nov. 26, 1923 Club-m Feb. 16 1926.

C C. KNOTTFNGHAM ET AL COMBINATION LOCK Filed Nov. 26, 1923 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 enrol W////0/77 5. Mart/09mm Chrome Patented Feb. 16, 1926.

UNITED STATES 1,573,170 PATENT OFFICE CLAUDE G. KNOTTINGHAM, WILLIAM S. .KNOTTINGHAM, AND JOHN FOSTER OTIS, OF

1 ROXBORO, WASHINGTON.

COMBINATION LOCK.

Application filed November 26, 1923. Serial No. 676,941.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, CLAUDE C. KNoT- TINGHAM, WILLIAM S. KNOTTINGHAM, and JOHN FOSTER OTIS, citizens of the United States, residing at Roxboro, in Adams County and State of'lVashington, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in' Combination Locks, of which the following is a specification.

Our present invention relates to 1mprovements in combination locks of the electrical type for use in safes, vaults and other appliances, wherein an electrical connection is made, or a normally broken clrcuit is closed to energize electrical means ovhereby the locked bolt is released for manual operatlon to withdraw the bolt and thereby permlt opening of the door which carries the looking device. I

The electric control or circuit making devi'ceinvolves the combination of a plurality of rotatable disks having complementary contact points, and the bolt releasing means,

under control of this device includes a solenoid. and releasable locking head carried thereby for normally holding the bolt n locked position. The invention consists in certain novel combinations and arrange ments of parts involving these features as will hereinafter be more fully pointed out and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings one complete exampleof the physical embodiment of the invention is illustrated wherein the parts are combined and arranged in connection with a safe andits door, 1n a ccordance with the best mode so far devised for the practical application of the principlesof.

the invention. 1

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional detail view, transversely of the lockingbolt, through a portion of a safe door, showing the electrical control device or combination lock and the 'bolt locking and unlocking device, together gether with its releasing means, and showing in dotted lines the manually operated lever for sliding the bolt after its release.

Figure 6 is an enlarged sectional view of a pair -'of intermediate, rotary disks of the combination set Figure 7 is a sectional detail view of the solenoid employed to release the locked bolt.

The slide bolt is longitudinally, moved for locking and unlocking the safe door by actuating a manual lever exterior of the safe door. When the bolt is'slid to locked position it is held in that position by a spring actuated device forming part of asolenoid, and the solenoid may be energized to with- 'draw the bolt locking means when the proper electrical connections are made through the instrumentality of the electric combination control device involving the r0- tary disks. The battery or source of energy for the electrical connections or circuit is carried at the interior side of the door, and an auxiliary set of wires or electrical connections may be extended to the exterior of' the safe or vault for access in case of emer gency.

For convenience in understanding the relation of parts, the door 1 may be of standard or usual structure, hinged to swing in opening or closing, and provided with an interior casing 2. The longitudinally movable slide bolt 3 is supported to project through a mortise 4 in the door as in Figure 5 where it is shown in locked position, and a manually operable handle or lever g is indicated in dotted lines for sliding the olt.

Onits inner face the door carries a fixed abutment 6 alined with the bolt, against which the bolt at its rear end abuts when 9 the bolt is withdrawn to unlocked position for the door. I

The bolt is retained in locked or projected position by means of a cross head or block 7 designed to occupy the space between the rear end of the bolt'and its abutment 6,, and this interposed cross head or block, as will be apparent prevents the withdrawal 1novement of the bolt.

The cross head or block is carried at the end of a plunger bar 8 which forms the core of a solenoid 9, and the movement of the core and block, with relation to the solenoid is limited by the co-action of the sleeve 10, within the solenoid and surrounding the core, which has a slot 11, and the pin 12 carried by the core.

WVhen the core is not under influence of the solenoid, as when the latter is de-energized, the core or bar 8 is projected and held in projected position by means of a spring 13 which extends into a socket in one end of the core-bar and has abearing against a threaded head 14 closing one end of the solenoid casing. In Figure 7 the core-bar is projected by the spring and the pin 12 engaging the end of the slot 11 in the sleeve 10 holds the projected bar against excessive movement. In this projected position the cross head 7 is positioned as in Figure 5 to hold the bolt in locked position, for the safe door.

The solenoid 9 is energized to withdraw the cross head 7 and permit opening movement of the bolt by means of an electric combination device indicated as a whole by the numeral 15, which is provided with two terminals or posts 16 and 17, the latter being connected with the solenoid by wire 18, as'in Figures 1 and 5. A wire 19 connects the post 16 with a battery 20 located within the casing 2 at the inner side of the door, and wire 21 from the battery connects with a contact point 22 carried by the bolt 3. This contact point 22 forms a movable member of a switch of which the fixed member 23 is attached to the door or to a stationary object thereon. The member 23 of the switch is connected by wire 24 to the solenoid. Thus the switch 2223 is designed to deenergize the solenoid after the latter has operated to withdraw the cross head 7 from locked position. When the bolt is in locked position the de-energizing switch or circuit breaker is closed, and when the bolt is released and withdrawn from locked position the circuitbreaker is opened to de-energize the solenoid. The battery circuit is normally open when the bolt is projected, but is closed by proper manipulation of the combination electric cont-roldevice 15, and when the complete circuit is closed the electrical energy'is'sufiicient to overcome the tension of the spring 13 and operate the solenoid, as described.

The electric control device is enclosed within a housing 25 carried at the inner side of the door within the casing 2 and the device is actuated by the usual dial-knob 26 at the exterior of the door. The knob is provided with a spindle 27 and a rigid circular driving disk 28 fixed on the spindle and rotatable with the spindle 27 which is journaled in the wall of the door to be turned through actuation of the knob 26. A stationary bar 29 forms an extension of the spindle, the two members being axially alined, and the spindle has a reducedhead 30' thereon fitting into a complementary socket or recess in the end of the bar 29, for centering the spindle and bar and guiding the movement of the spindle with relation to the bar. Five circular disks are illustrated to make up the set for the control device, designated respectively 31, 32, 33, 34 and 35, the disks 31 and 35 being non-rotatable, and all of the disks composed of non-conducting or insulation material as fiber. The non-rotatable disk 31 has a central opening and surrounds the spindle, while the non-rotatable disk 35 also has a central opening and is maintained in fixed relation to the non-rotatable bar 29. The rotatable, intermediate disks 32, 33, 34 have a loose fit on the bar 29 which acts as a journal for these rotatable members which are adapted to be coupled and successively rotated by turning the dial knob. The intermediate rotatable disks have central openings, and the adjoining disks are spaced apart or separated by the interposition of friction washers 36 preferably keyed to the bar 29 and therefore non-rotatable.

At the inner side of the disk 31 an annular recess 37 is provided for the reception of the rotatable driving plate 28 carried by the spindle, and this driving plate is fashioned with a pair of coupling pins 38 adapt ed to selectively engage complementary sockets 39 formed in an annular series in one face of the adjoining disk 32, whereby the latter disk is turned with the spindle.

The intermediate disks are also provided with laterally projecting coupling pins as 40, one being carried by the respective disks 32 and 34 and two being provided for the disk 33, the latter two being positioned at opposite sides of this disk 33. The intermediate disks are also fashioned with lateral, annular grooves 41, said grooves being preterably of the same diameter as the annular series of sockets 39 of the disk 32, and having the same radius, and spaced the same distance from the axis of the spindle and bar as the pins 40. The pins are thus positioned to project into and travel around in the grooves of adjoining disks, thepins of course being aflixed to their respective disks.

The disks 32 and 34 have a single groove and the post 17 on the non-rotatable disk 31.

For making the electrical connections or contacts between the several disks, each of the rotary disks is provided with a stationary or relatively fixed pin or point 42 and a spring pressed. pin 43, the latter having a spring 44 in a socket 45 to normally pro ect its pin from the socket. The stationary pins and -the spring pressed pins are located equidistant from the axis of the spindle or bar and the spring pressed pins are urged by their springs to engage against an adjoining disk, and as the stationary pins are in the path of movement of the spring pressed pins, it Will be apparent that the latter may be brought into contact to make electrical connections. Diflerent combinations may be arranged for the dial by locating the contact pins 43 in selected pockets 45 as indicated in igure 3, and it will be apparent that the four spring pressed pins will permit numerous combinations to be made. As the dial knob is turned the disks are successively brought into proper mechanical engagement by means of the coupling pins and when the-correct turns of the knob have been accomplished one spring pressed contact pin will be in frictional contact with a complementary stationary pin of the series of electrical connecting pins, as indicated in Figure 1.

A conductor or connector as illustrated in Figure 2 is used to couple or connect a pin 42 with a pin 43, and for the accommodation of these connectors the disks are each provided with an annular groove 46 in its outer periphery, said groove being of suflicient depth to expose a portion of the transversely arranged pins 42 and 43, as seen in Figure 6.

Each connector includes a tubular member 47 and a telescoping member 48 fashioned on arcuate lines conforming to the contour of the annular groove 46, and the groove is of sufficient depth to accommodate the connector in order that it may lie within the outer periphery of the disk. At the outer ends of the sections 47 and 48 respectively are fixed hooks 49 and 50 the notches of the hooks being adapted to slip over and frictionall-y engage the spaced pins 42 and 43. By telescoping the sections of the connectors they may be adjusted as to length and yet maintain their curvature and when the hooks 49 and 50 are sna ed over the s aced ins transmission of electrical energy. When the location of the pins 42 and 43 is changed to vary the combination, the length of the connector is adjusted accordingly, and as the connector may be elongated to a length sufficient to span one half the circumference of the grooveddisks, it will be apparent that the connector-is adjustable for any desired arrangement of the combination.

The connectors form permanent connections between a pair of contact pins, one connector for each disk, and a spring pressed pin and stationary pin on adjoining disks form circuit making or circuit breaking elements.

The telescoping sections are of course In close frictional contact for the \The disk 81 it'will be observed is insulated from the door to which it is securely afiixed, and the Wires 18 and 19 are of course insu lated from adjacent objects, and connected directly to their respective posts 17 and 16. The post 17 is directly connected with one of the fixed contact pins 42, while the post 16 forms a connection for one end of a con- I nector, the other end of which connector is hooked over a spring pressed pin 43-carr1ed by the disk 35. When the disks are properly set by manipulating the knob 26 it will by Letters Patent is- 1. In a circuit making device a rotatable disk having spaced contact points located transversely of the disk and an annular peripheral groove exposing said points, and an electrical connector spanning the space between said points and located in said groove.

2. In a circuit making device a rotatable disk having a series of spaced pin-holes and an electrical contact pin in one of said holes,

a second contact pin, and an adjustable connector attached to said pins.

3. A rotatable disk having a series of,

spaced pin holes and an electrical contact pin in one of said holes arranged at one side of the disk, a second contact pin at the opposite side of said disk, said pins arranged transversely of the disk, and an adjustable connector having its respective ends attached to said pins.

4. A disk having an annular peripheral groove and a series of spaced, transversely extending pin holes arranged at one side of said disk, an electrical contact pinlocated in a selected pin hole, a secondcontact pin at the opposite side of said disk, and an adjustable connector located in said groove having its ends attached to said pins.

5. A disk having an annular peripheral groove and a series of spaced, transversely extending lateral pin holes, an electrical contact pin located in a selected pin hole, a second contact pin at the opposite side of said disk,.an adjustable connector located in said groove comprising telescoping sections and a hook at the outer end of each section for attachment to a contact pin.

In testimony whereof We aflix our signatures.-

CLAUDE O. KNOTTINGHAM. \VILLIAM S. KNOTTINGHAM. J. FOSTER OTIS. 

